GAME-SHAKERS
Over the summer the Winnipeg Jets sent 2022 first-rounder Rutger McGroarty to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the latest example of NHL players leaving their draft teams before even playing a single game.
That got me thinking about all the players that have never played for their draft team. Turns out, there’s a lot of great players who took that path.
Here’s a look:
KEN DRYDEN - BOSTON BRUINS
Ken Dryden is one of the greatest goaltenders in Montreal Canadiens history, but he almost didn’t even play for the Habs. No, The Four Storey Goalie was actually originally drafted 14th overall by the Boston Bruins in 1964. He was traded a few days later to the Canadiens, but back then the NHL Entry Draft was more of a backroom gathering of GMs than the spectacle it is today, so Dryden’s agent just told him that he was drafted by Montreal.
He didn’t find out the truth until sometime in the mid-1970s.
JAROME IGINLA - DALLAS STARS
Did you know that the Flames’ all-time leading scorer was almost never a Flame?
Jarome Iginla was actually drafted 11th overall in 1995 by the Dallas Stars, but he never wore a Stars hockey jersey in an NHL game.
Dallas moved Iggy to Calgary later that year in exchange for Joe Nieuwendyk, who played a key role in their 1999 Stanley Cup victory, winning the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. So, it’s hard to say that it wasn’t a good move for all involved.
ERIC LINDROS - QUEBEC NORDIQUES
This is the one everybody remembers. The NHL was in the grips of Lindros-mania back in 1991. Hordes of fans chased him down the street wherever he went, and young girls fainted at all of his hockey games. So, it was a big deal that the Quebec Nordiques had first shot at him with the first pick in the 1991 draft.
But, The Big E refused to play for the Nords, and that eventually led to the trade that sent Lindros to the Philadelphia Flyers, while Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, and three others made their way to Quebec City.
Something about seeing Hexy in a Nords jersey just seemed wrong to me. It was like a bad dream, honestly. I was always waiting to wake up and see him in a Flyers jersey again. Two years later, the nightmare was over, and Hextall was in a Flyers hockey sweater yet again.
ADAM FOX - CALGARY FLAMES
Here’s one a few teams probably wish they could take back. New York Rangers’ dynamic defender Adam Fox was actually drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2016. When they couldn’t sign him, they traded him to Carolina. But, the Hurricanes already had a ton of great defensemen, so they shipped Fox off to the Rangers.
Fox is now a perennial All-Star Game shoo-in and a Norris Trophy winner. Who couldn’t use that?
VLADISLAV TRETIAK - MONTREAL CANADIENS
Politics really got in hockey’s way back in the Cold War era. After the game-changing 1972 Summit Series, a lot of NHL teams began looking to Russia for talent, and started to draft Russian players in the late ‘70s. But, Russia wouldn’t let their stars move to North America and play in the NHL.
Some, like Slava Fetisov, were able to make the leap after the fall of the Soviet Union, but unfortunately, Vlad Tretiak never made it across the pond to play for the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him in 1983.
Vladislav Tretiak posing with Peter Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer.
GUY LAFLEUR - MINNESOTA NORTH STARS
Did you know that Guy Lafleur was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1991 NHL Expansion Draft?
Yeah, there’s a lot going on there.
First of all, why the heck were the North Stars picking players in the ‘91 Expansion Draft? Well, the brand new San Jose franchise was awarded to the then owners of the Minnesota North Stars’. Those owners agreed to sell the North Stars, but were allowed to draft North Stars players to take with them. After that, both the Sharks and the Stars were allowed to pick players in the Expansion Draft.
Which leads us to this: Lafleur was set to retire in 1991, so the Nords didn’t bother to put him on their protected player list. But Flower’s retirement paperwork hadn’t gone through by the time the draft happened, so the North Stars scooped him up.
Lafleur’s plan was to work in the Nords front office, but the NHL wouldn’t allow him to work for the Nords as long as another team owned his playing rights, so the Nords actually had to make a trade to the North Stars to finally get Lafleur in his cubicle making cold calls.
TARO TSUJIMOTO - BUFFALO SABRES
He was supposed to be the first Japanese-born forward to play in the NHL. Relatively unknown and living in the obscurity of Japan, Tsujimoto was able to catch the eye of Punch Imlach and the Buffalo Sabres after posting 15 goals and 25 points with the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League.
The Sabres selected Taro in the 11th round of the 1974 Amateur Draft, but he never played a game for the Sabres — because he was a fake player that Imlach made up as a joke on then NHL President, Clarence Campbell.
SHOW YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR WITH A JERSEY
That last example is one of my favourite stories in all of hockey, and it’s always funny to me when I see someone walking around with a Tsujimoto #74 Buffalo Sabres jersey. I also see the odd Lindros Nordiques jersey from time to time, which I love because it’s one of those wink-and-nods to other hockey fans.
Hockey fans never cease to amaze me with their creativity and sense of humour. It’s one of the things I love about hockey culture, and it’s one of the reasons I became a jersey customizer. And, if you want to hear more fun stories, hot takes, and cool observations on hockey jerseys and hockey culture, all you have to do is subscribe to the 4 Shots with Keener newsletter.It comes out every Friday, and it’s always fun.
See you next week!
